If you recently purchased a land or exploring Permaculture in your existing farmland, it is important to track your farm’s yields with time. The better your soil fertility the better your farm’s yields shall be. But, “how do we determine the fertility of the soil?”, might you ask.
Well, before you begin cultivation, get your soil and water tested. The test report will help you learn whether your soil is acidic or alkaline in nature. You will also get to know the list of all minerals that your soil lacks and your soil is rich in.
“How will this data help”, might you ask.
Let’s say your soil is acidic and you are planning to use an organic input to feed your soil. You can avoid or dilute all organic inputs that are acidic in nature before you feed your soil. This way, you can keep your soil pH in check.
If you’re in India, you can google “KVK {Your district’s name} soil testing” to get your soil and water tested. For example, my distrcit is Salem and I would look for “KVK salem soil testing”. While at the time of writing this post, the cost of testing is INR 100 /- per sample.
Today, I’m grateful to the Almighty for blessing me with a contended life.
If you’re new to permaculture design, you may feel intrigued hearing the terms like trench, berm, swale, channel, etc. My aim in this post is to help you learn the differences amongst these jargons.
Trench
A trench is a pit in the ground. A trench is dug to harvest rain water.
Ditch
A ditch is very similar to the trench but differs in a way that the ditch is usually used to move water from one place to the other, usually run away water from the road.
Berm
A berm is a mound usually put up on a contour to contain water. Berms are usually planted with grass or other vegetation to prevent soil erosion.
Swale
A swale is a combination of a trench (the pit) and a berm (the mound). A swale must be located on the contour line for maximum efficiency. When in case of a swale, downhill plantation reduces erosion. Swale helps to recharge the ground water by letting the water seep through the ground.
Channel
Channel, unlike swale, would be located slightly off the contour. The main purpose of a channel is not just catch water but to help the water flow from one place to the other. This differs from ditch by slowing the flow of water. A channel is put to its best use when used to irrigate drier areas.
Today, I’m grateful to the Almighty for leading me in my life.
The server cannot process the image. This can happen if the server is busy or does not have enough resources to complete the task. Uploading a smaller image may help. Suggested maximum size is 2560 pixels.
The above seen error swept a couple of hours out of my day. At the end, I’ve figured out what went wrong and I’m about to share how I fixed it.
Solution
Find out which php.ini is loaded by running the following command.
php -i | grep 'php.ini'
# Result
Configuration File (php.ini) Path: /etc/php/7.x/cli
Bump up the upload_max_filesize value. In my case, I bumped to 8M. I had to make this change in the /etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini file.
; Maximum allowed size for uploaded files.
; http://php.net/upload-max-filesize
upload_max_filesize = 8M
Restart PHP FPM service by running the following command.
sudo systemctl restart php7.4-fpm.service
By now the maximum upload file size displayed in the WordPress dashboad must have been set to the value you set in the php.ini file.
Behind The Scenes
If you’re interested in knowing what I tried before I arrived at the above solution then keep reading.
Since the issue is obvious and related to file uploads, I tried to increase the memory limit using `wp-config.php`. But this did not solve the problem.
Next I tried changing the upload_max_filesize value in php.ini file. I’m running a LEMP stack. However, changing the php.ini file did not solve the problem.
The loaded php.ini can be found by running the following command.
php -i | grep 'php.ini'
# Result
Loaded Configuration File: /etc/php/7.4/cli/php.ini
I restarted the PHP service for the changes in php.ini file to take place using the following command.
sudo systemctl reload php7.4
I disabled gd PHP module and installed imagemagick PHP module. However, this did not solve the problem.
You can run the following command to list all the installed PHP modules.
php -m
Today, I’m grateful to my two beautiful dogs who keep me sane by offering love licks when I’m busting through the roof.
If you’re reading this post, I’m sure you don’t need an introduction on WP CLI.
Inclined to use some stats in my monthly review post, I wanted to find out the total number of spam comments my blog received for the month of April.
Thinking that WP CLI would make my task easier, I started looking at the documentation to find out the appropriate syntax to be used with the wp comment list command.
I’ve been reading a lot on Canine psychology and body language since four years. The acquired knowledge helps me bond with any dog. I don’t approach dogs that are not comfortable with my interactions. Dogs communicate all the time using body language.
Rain or shine, I walk my dogs every day. My eldest dog will turn four this December. We hardly missed a walk during these four years.
I sometimes pet, talk to a few strays during our walks. I was walking one of my dogs like every other day. A stray came out of no where and bit my leg from behind.
For a moment, I wanted to hurt that dog in return. But the knowledge I acquired helped me make the right decision. Dog’s don’t escalate to biting unless provoked. The dog appeared to disabled with a broken leg. She would’ve bit me out of pain or could even be because of rabies.
I shooed the dog away and noticed that I was bleeding. I rushed to the hospital and got my first anti-rabies and TT shots.
The bite doesn’t affect my love for dogs. However, I would be more cautious with the one that bit me.
I wish I had a good knowledge on snakes as well. I happened to kill one that visited my house a few months ago.
Today, I’m grateful to the Internet, a vast library, that made me a better person.
Like most people, I make great plans every new year. However, I lose track of my goals and live an ordinary life every year. I don’t want to let go of another year making meaningless choices. Hence, I wanted to reflect on my progress every month. These monthly reviews keep me accountable.
Server Administration
Unfortunately my cloud hosting server crashed this year. This unfortunate event led to a series of events that I’m proud of. You wouldn’t be reading this post otherwise.
I’ve been running Tap That Brain for a couple of years now. This month I decided to steer the course of the project radically. I made my mind to not indulge in in-person training sessions.
Rather, I wanted to offer online dog training courses. Also, I’ve been wanting to run and manage a members-only forum / platform to discuss anything and everything dog training and dog parenting.
Starting March, I’ve been following the deep work philosophy. Using deep work, I was able to get things done faster and better. I’ve been consistently clocking three deep work blocks every work day. Each work block would range between 45 minutes to 90 minutes depending on my energy level that day.
Family
Out of the blue, we visited Velankanni. The struggle in finding a stay will make the trip memorable forever.
Update: Thanks to the Almighty. We found a family for the puppy.
I’m fostering a female Labrador Retriever pup since a week. I’m looking forward to meet a family who will be interested in adopting the pup.
Adoption — Any caveats?
Unfortunately, adoption conveys a wrong message to the wrong ears. Adoption does not mean taking home a pup at no cost.
Instead, we, the caretakers of the parent dogs, want you to invest the money you would spend on buying a pup to the well-being of the pup. We’re more interested in letting go of the puppy to the right family than making money. We have day jobs that pays our bills.
We aim to find the right family to take care of the pup like one of their own. We don’t stop there but educate the family so they can raise a companion dog that is joyous to have around. Finally, the dog ends up with a family that cares.
So our aim with this adoption is to end up in a win-win-win situation. We win. The family wins. And the dog wins too.
I’ve come up with a list of things that will help you raise the dog of your dreams. Before you roll up your sleeves to pick up the puppy, remember, you will be the puppy’s mother for the next 15 years of your life.
By walking your dog at least 30 minutes twice a day, your dog would quietly rest throughout the day allowing you to do your chores.
By spending at least 30 minutes bonding, you and your puppy would end up having a beautiful friendship. The stronger your friendship, the better the compliance from your puppy.
By bathing your dog once every fortnight, you will ensure that your dog is free of ticks and fleas. In addition, your dog would smell good when you snuggle.
By consulting with a veterinarian once every three months, you would ensure your pet’s health.
By spending ~ 100 INR per day feeding good quality meat, you ensure your pup’s nutritional needs. Turkey / Rabbit / Beef / Quail / Mutton / Chicken are suitable for dogs in the listed order. This would save you from huge medical bills that occurs when you feed foods that are of low quality / not suitable to dogs.
By spaying your dog at the right age, you would save your dog from physical and mental trauma. I strongly discourage artificial selection of dogs in breeding, unless the person who breeds knows the science of genetics.
Labrador Retrievers do shed a lot. By investing in a good vaccum cleaner, you will save yourself from embarrassment when guests arrive at your doors.
Can we meet the pup’s parents?
You’re most welcome to meet the parents of the pup. Indeed, I strongly suggest you to meet the parents before meeting the pup.
Health history
The puppy was born on Dec 23, 2021. The pup is 3 months 3 days old at the time of writing this post. The puppy is vaccinated and the vaccination records will be handed over to the family. Both the pup’s parents were inspected by veterinarians shortly before the breeding. Out breeding technique was used. In other words, the parents are not related to each other.
Training
The puppy is currently being potty trained. In addition to potty training, the puppy is also socialized with kids, adults, loud sounds and various other real time scenarios of a urban lifestyle. The training would continue until a suitable family is found.
Immediate expenses
Like I mentioned earlier, adoption does not mean taking home a puppy at no cost. We would want you to spend on your pup’s well-being. If you choose to adopt this puppy, your immediate expenses would include the following.
01. Flat leash and collar. I use the Birdie Collar and Leash Set for my other dogs and I strongly recommend the same because of the durability and convenience.
02. Crate. If you have children under 14 years of age, I strongly recommend you to purchase a crate. I’ve seen my clients use M-Pets Voyager Wire Crate with 2 Doors and I recommend the same. You can get any crate but ensure to get one with a flat flooring for the dog to step on.
03. Basics of foundation training course. This is an online course designed to help you communicate with your dog. You will also learn about the various training techniques that you can use to train your dog any behaviour using positive reinforcement. This course is priced at INR 9,999 /- But, I love to offer this course for you at INR 6,999 /-
Interested In Adoption?
If you’re still reading then you’re probably interested in adoption. Please fill up the Google form and I shall contact you. Preference will be given for people residing in and around Salem.
